The Gap Between Research and Practice Revisited: Accommodation Practices Amid COVID-19

• In Event: Inclusion and Accessibility in Educational Assessment SIG (#96) Roundtable

Abstract

Previous research suggests that there is a demonstrated need to provide instructional and assessment accommodations for students with special needs in Canada, and therefore, we conducted semi-structured interviews to better understand how elementary special education teachers’ perceived understanding of accommodations affected their practices before the COVID-19 pandemic, during school closures, and after school reopened. Our narrative data show that teachers’ perceptions of accommodations did not align with research and theory. There is a widespread misunderstanding or misconception of accommodations among teachers. Teachers tended to utilize groupwise strategies for students with special needs. Overall, teachers’ perceptions and practices of accommodations remained constant during the pandemic, except that some practices were changed due to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

Author

• Pei-Ying Lin, University of Saskatchewan